Man gets 13 years in prison

A Crescent City man who was convicted in Del Norte Superior Court on five felony drug and weapons charges was sentenced Thursday to 13 years and four months in prison.

Edwin Stull, 35, was arrested in early September after Crescent City police officers seized 92 grams of methamphetamine and a loaded .25-caliber pistol from his vehicle. The drugs had a street value between $7,500 and $8,000, authorities said.

Police also found $2,600 in cash, a digital scale, 50 baggies, and a loaded syringe, according to police reports.

Stull was arrested again a week later, after posting bail, on similar charges. He was found in his vehicle with about 1.5 grams of meth and a collapsible baton, an illegal weapon, authorities said.

His attorney, William Cater, argued that Stull was "completely cooperative" with the officers both times and was in no way combative.

Stull addressed the court and argued that he hadn't had contact with police in nine years and is an addict who was selling drugs to support his habit.

"I was convicted by a system that punishes you for being cooperative and honest," he told Del Norte County Superior Court Judge Robert Weir.

Deputy District Attorney Ben McLaughlin, who tried the case, said that he was pleased with the sentence, which is just short of the 14-year-sentence Stull could have received.

"He got what he deserved," McLaughlin said, noting that Stull broke the law.

McLaughlin also called himself "conflicted to one extent."

"He's a 35-year-old man who essentially threw his life away," McLaughlin said of Stull.

Stull was found guilty in late November on all charges  possession of a controlled substance for sale, transportation of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a felon, being a felon and carrying a loaded weapon in a vehicle and possession of a firearm and controlled substances. All are felonies.